Samsung’s Foldable Smartphone Isn’t Arriving Until 2019

It looks like we will have to wait for over a year until we can see a Samsung foldable smartphone in all its glory. Samsung Mobile’s President, DJ Koh has conceded that the company won’t be able to launch its first-ever foldable Android phone until 2019.

He revealed that the UX is the biggest obstacle Samsung is facing in commercialisation but assured that Samsung is working aggressively to overcome the problem.

This revelation from the Samsung Mobile boss falls in-line with a previous report that claimed that the Galaxy X (tentatively named) will launch in December of 2018. The report was published yesterday and provided a few interesting details about the upcoming foldable smartphone. According to the report, the phone would feature a 7.3-inch, flexible OLED display (built by Samsung Display) which would fold open like a book.

Further, the report revealed that Samsung engineers are currently tasked to with ensuring that the display leaves no trace of having been folded once it is opened into a flat position. Now, it appears that the display might not be the only thing worrying Samsung as DJ Koh conceded that there are issues with the UX as well.

The price of the devices is expected to be “ultra-premium.” Samsung is not a stranger to exorbitantly priced smartphones as its ‘W’ flip smartphones are priced higher than usual smartphones in South Korea. As per previous reports, the foldable Galaxy smartphone will be manufactured in extremely quantities which are estimated to be about 10,000. This could be true but, once Samsung nails the manufacturing process, it could increase the quantity if it is received well by the consumers.

Samsung has launched a lot of “industry first” products, especially in the smartphone industry. Over the years, it has maintained the curve display for its flagship lineup and continues to do so. The Samsung Galaxy X could be the beginning of a new flagship lineup by Samsung or, we could see this feature trickle down to its other flagship smartphone lineups, like the Galaxy Note series.